Actually, I think the writers may have been more interested in basic science than a lot of the show's writers. For example, they took some care to explain why the asteroid's momentum represented a problem for the ship.

Other than that one statement I don't think we've heard anything to suggest or seen anything in five decades of Trek to demonstrate that starships have that kind of firepower. What would that have meant for the single Borg cube headed for Earth in "The Best Of Both Worlds?"